happyman

Nicely done. Don't forget, there is a source of breath: People who are born the normal way have a new breath that could, in principle, stay around forever after they die, if they gave it away at some point. It's just a question of birth rate vs. Returned sustainability.

Just a comment: In threads like this, I think we should carefully distinguish between the death quotes and Jasnah's notes. The death quotes are due to some ability to see beyond normal human senses just before you die. Presumably they are in one of the living languages on Roshar. In addition, they are vague and likely symbolic, but if we can interpret them, they are almost certainly the unvarnished truth as understood by the person dying. Jasnah's notes, on the other hand, are from ancient sources. They have been translated, embellished, and interpreted. There are many more layers of interpretation on them, is what I'm saying. These are very different types of sources. I think which is which should be made crystal clear when we can tell the difference.

I believe the Parshmen/Parshendi are the Voidbringers, or at least related to them. Jasnah's research notes seemed quite solid. I still don't know what that means, though. This topic comes up perennially, and this is the only answer I've been able to find that makes sense: The Parshmen are the voidbringers. But we don't know why that's important or what their real function is, so the revelation is probably only partly true. Jasnah may have come to the right general conclusion, but her worldview is missing a few important pieces, so she may take incorrect actions based off of them.

[just_joking]I hate you.[/just_joking] More seriously: I really do envy you. There was a time when I lived that close to BYU campus---sigh. And I have next to no interest in the Inheritance release, so, ah well.

Well, once you manage to decipher the very odd nature of Baxil's mistress, it becomes extremely likely that all of the Heralds are still alive. It also seems likely that have become somewhat---eccentric, if nothing else.

I agree with Aashyma. Completely different mechanisms. Nightbloods and Shardblades don't seem to have much in common beyond their basic shape as an effective way to slice other people (e.g. they are both types of the things we generally call "swords").

Good points all. I actually do think it is more likely to come from the connection with Honor that allows him see the visions, but it's hard to know for certain.

There is other evidence in the book that Dalinar has begun to show unusual abilities. The fight with the Greatclaw is the best evidence. The theory I like best is that Dalinar is slowly developing into a Stonesinew. If this is true, the source of the voice whispering into his head would be a Spren which he has attracted, but which is barely beginning to become sentient as he begins to develop its virtues.

I'm quite certain that Odium hasn't been to Sel in quite a while. It seems like in the absence of other shards, his very presence would tend to distort people's nature, just by being around, kind of like what we see in WoK. Sel doesn't seem unusually warlike; no more than, say, the real world or the world of Warbreaker.

Oh, yeah, I'd forgotten about those stories. They're a pretty good example of trying to work out all the side effects of something like that. Though Niven did include the caveat that light-speed became slower if you sped up time, which probably isn't something Brandon would go for.

Power creep, much? Of course, Superheros (and their villans) seems to suffer from it regularly. Ah well.

Dunno if it's true or not, but it's the first truly coherent theory I've heard on the subject. Well done.

For the people wondering why the Heralds were being tortured between desolations, I have no answer. I think we can safely guess that either they (or Honor) had no real choice in the matter, or they were tricked. That's exactly the kind of back-story Brandon does best, though, and if it isn't at least a little bit involved, I would be very disappointed.

Having now read the actual interview, I would say that I am even more convinced that my theory is essentially correct. Odium contributed to the Reod, in that killing Aona meant Aona's magic system could break down due to simple entropy. No truly complex event has any single cause, and Odium definitely contributed, but if I'm right, it's not that simple. Basic plate tectonics (or whatever causes Earthquakes in the cosmere) would also have contributed, independently of Odium's vital contribution. Doubtless we'll learn more as time goes on. I'm glad Brandon doesn't tell us everything.

Yep, you guys got it. I'm surprised he came out and just said it like that. I mean, it wasn't a bad theory. That he was a Dula was just about certain, and it certainly fit. It just seemed to much to say that we knew. But now we know. And it's kind of cool, although it raises a lot more questions than it answer. Which, come to think of it, is probably why he answered it so directly.

Given the number of things we don't know, I think we can just add Shalash's origins to the heap. The pieces we have do fit together nicely, though.

This is logical, but for it to be really convincing, you would have to explain away the Almighty's claim that he created humanity.

Hmmm. I suspect that pushing and pulling are separate from electricity and magnetism entirely. They certainly aren't compatible with magnetism in any form I'm familiar with, and I'm familiar with Maxwell's equations and their macroscopic approximations. I suspect that pushing off the wiring of a single house would end up throwing the lurcher, not affecting the house. After all, putting your full weight on the side of a house wouldn't do much to it, and pushing on all the wiring in the house would spread the force out even more broadly. You'd have to anchor yourself somehow, and even then, all you'd probably do is destroy the walls. You could probably strangle somebody at home quite effectively, though, if you were skilled with iron and steel.

Also, most theories will change with time. Almost every theory needs refinement, especially the wrong ones! A "canonical," or at least widely accepted, version of the theory attached to a broader discussion would seem appropriate.

This is entirely plausible. Some of his best plot twists have come from ideas he came up with for technical reasons. I can't help but feeling, though, like the Elantrian religious beliefs, by the nature of the Cosmere, have to be tied up with the Shards. Even if that's not where the idea started, that's almost certainly where it ended.

I agree with this. I think the following are all true: 1) The person burning gold sees through the eyes (and thinks through the mind) of both their real selves and their Gold shadow. It is, after all, in some obscure sense part of them. 2) Nobody else can interact with their shadow. It is purely internal. 3) Their shadow can see things that they could not normally see and give them extra information. This shouldn't be that big a stretch; after all, both Atium and Electrum could, in theory, do the same thing, with extra time-travel weirdness added in for good measure.

I was already pretty sold on the theory before this bit of evidence, but I must say that this observation seals the deal. What's even better, if I've understood Brandon correctly, she's going to be a viewpoint character at one point. Nifty!

I'm with Squallor. "Unknown third party" seems to be the most likely candidate for something like this. Brandon has strongly suggested that there is more to the back-story than Hoid and Adonalsium, and it seems to me that picking one of the other is a bit premature at this point.

Well, my original theory (when I first read Mistborn and then Warbreaker) was that some Shards could read minds and others couldn't; it was simply the nature of the powers. Mistborn made such a persistent point of saying that Allomancers (or Ruin or Preservation) can't read minds or emotions that I thought it must have some significance, but in Warbreaker, reading minds is a natural part of the magic. (In principle, all Awakened objects read the Awakeners mind, and Nightblood does it very flagrantly.) I haven't read the "Allow of Law" chapters (personal preference), so I don't know much about Harmony's powers, but I find it odd that he can read minds (if he can). My best guesses at this point are: (1) Some Shards have easy access to the cognitive realm by their nature (intent?), and others don't. Neither Ruin or Preservation has easy access, but together, they are powerful enough to reach it (or another way, their combined Intent is capable of accessing what either power alone would find difficult). Endowment, on the other hand, has very easy access, presumably because it relates more naturally to his (her?) powers. (2) Sazed is really good at observation and reading people from the outside, and can insert ideas from the outside, even though he can't read minds directly. After all, changing emotions (and by extension, thoughts) is something Allomancy can do.

I'm certain that the Shardbearer Kaladin killed will be important in the long run. I see no reason to think he's a Herald, though. I'm pretty certain Kaladin was using Stormlight when he killed the Shardbearer; that probably evened the odds slightly, although Kaladin was still skilled out the ears to do it, even against a normal shardbearer. EDIT: Following Chaos' correction.